Informed Consent
The Philosophical Goals of Informed Consent
The principle of respect for persons demands that subjects have an appropriate level of understanding about their role in an experiment prior to capably considering whether or not to participate. In response to this moral responsibility, researchers rely on the convention of informed consent.
Informed consent is the knowledgeable and voluntary agreement by a patient to undergo an intervention by a healthcare professional, such that is in accord with the patient's values and preferences.
Practically, this represents an educational and decision-making process that can be divided into several objective components.
Informed consent has certain elements:
- Information
If patients are required to make a knowledgeable decision whether or not to participate in a clinical research trial, it is essential that they have a thorough understanding of what their role would be. As clinicians, surgeons are morally required to provide patients with detailed information about their medical condition, conventional and experimental treatment options that are available, including no treatment. This should also include information regarding the likelihood and seriousness of risks associated with each option. Decisions to participate in human subject research must be informed choices, which requires the thoughtful conveyance of all pertinent information.
- Understanding
- Consent
- Authorization
- Informed Consent in Surgical Research
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